3 Stocks Shaking the Market

Some stocks are one-hit wonders, making a big splash when they first appear, then quickly fizzling into obscurity or oblivion. But for other stocks, that initial big move is only a preview for even bigger and better gains to come.

Today, we've listed three stocks that made some of the biggest upward moves over the past month, which we'll pair with the ratings issued by our Motley Fool CAPS community. The higher each stock's rating, the greater CAPS members' faith in that company's ability to keep on beating the market.

^Nov. 17 to Dec. 17.

As the markets whipsaw to changes in second-half economic performance, the S&P 500 has been volatile. So before we get shaken out again, let's see why the CAPS community thinks some of these companies might continue to outperform the market.

A mighty temblor
You wouldn't normally bet that a tiny biotech like XOMA would be able to best heavyweights like Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) or Eli Lilly, but if the research report at one analyst shop is to be believed, XOMA's diabetes treatment XOMA 052 could do just that.

The therapy seeks to block the interleukin-1 protein, which is thought to lead to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases like diabetes. There's been hope for a blockbuster in the drug for a while, but it's still early in the process. With hard data not expected to come until sometime over the next six months, investors may be a little premature in having bid the stock up so far, so fast.

CAPS member ravens9111 had a premonition that good news was due for XOMA, and long-term shareholder blindsquirrel2 says 052 will be the blockbuster everyone expects: "OK I'm a sucker and have owned this company for 30 years, but the rumour is that their XOMA052 is going to finally be the blockbuster that makes this company"

Tell us on the XOMA CAPS page why this time the biotech will succeed ahead of the monied competition.

A sunny disposition
Similarly, InterMune got a big boost when its drug Esbriet, a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, received a positive recommendation from the EU's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

That's a big turn of events for InterMune, which suffered a huge drop in its stock earlier this year when the FDA -- against the advice of its advisory panel -- rejected Esbriet. Fool biotech guru Brian Orelli has shown that even if InterMune scores only two-thirds of the market it says is possible (based on revenue projections of drugs made by Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Pfizer(NYSE: PFE)), it still comes out a huge winner. If the FDA reconsiders its position, the payout could get a lot bigger.

Highly rated CAPS All-Star zzlangerhans thinks the market may already be pricing in that reconsideration, and that's an outcome by no means assured:

I think momentum investors may also be incorrectly assuming that European approval will somehow force an earlier FDA approval. The FDA has already made their position clear that a new clinical trial will be required and that won't change. And there's a good chance that European decision-makers (both physicians and pursestring holders) will want to see that data before prescribing pirfenidone en masse.

You can follow along with InterMune's ups and downs by adding the stock to your watchlist and having all the Foolish news and analysis gathered together for you in one place.

A speedy opportunity
Paramount Gold Mining found a pretty rich vein of the precious metal at its San Miguel project in Mexico. The mine is an extension of the world-class silver and gold Palmarejo mine owned by Coeur D'Alene Mines (NYSE: CDE), and investors are hoping it makes a bid for its neighbor.

Palmarejo is expected to produce some 6.1 million ounces of silver and 109,000 ounces of gold. The extension Paramount found is already some 550 meters long, and is considered likely to extend deeper and continue longitudinally for another 200 meters or more.

Wall Street has ignored Paramount Gold, but more than 200 CAPS members have weighed in on the miner. Of those, 92% believe it will outperform the broad market averages. It was almost exactly a year ago that hatchjcp was expecting Paramount to strike it big, and then put the company up for sale:

Paramount Gold is a Junior gold stock that is trying to prove up to 10 Million ounces of gold by mid 2010. They own several land projects in Mexico, one of which is the San Miguel project, that surrounds a gold company called Coeur d' Alene. Once they prove up top 10 Million ounces of gold they should put the company up for sale.

While Paramount's CEO says it has no plans yet to sell, he thinks Coeur D'Alene will make an offer. So be sure to add it into the Fool's free portfolio tracker. Then head over to the Paramount Gold Mining CAPS page and search the comments of your fellow Fools for greater insight.

Shake, rattle, and roll
With these stocks shaking the market this past month it pays to start your own research on them at Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made all from a stock's CAPS page.